Elliot Stoneguard and The Illvermorny School of Witchcraft & Wizardry
by FrontierStudios
Summary: Elliot Stoneguard, to his knowledge, a pure blood. A blood traitor if you will, growing up in Detriot, Michigan, he was fascinated by muggles, enough so to learn how to play multiple muggle instruments such as the guitar, piano, and bass. However,in wake of the events of The Tri-wizard Tournament, a multitude had transferred to Illvermorny. Can Elliot adapt to his new surroundings?


Chapter One: This isn't Hogwarts

"Elliot Wilbur Stoneguard, you will get out of that bed this instant!" Elliot's mother, Alyssa Stoneguard, shouted as Elliot, though groggy and sore from a night of sleeping wrong, gasped and rolled off his bed in his sky blue Detroit Lions pajama bottoms and white tee shirt and stood at the foot of it. "Today's the day!" Elliot shouted as he looked in the mirror, Elliot was tall for his age,standing at 5' 11'' coupled with his long arms,it gave him confidence in his dream of being the best beater Ilvermorny had ever had spent most of his summers working at the school he was about to attend for the first time with his Uncle Quinn Linxer, who was the school's game keeper, and that had kept Elliot at least modestly in shape. His mother, with her arms crossed, shook her head in disappointment as she looked at her fourteen-year old son, who was flexing to himself in a mirror that hung from his open closet, and chuckled, "I hope you worked on your beater skills with your uncle because those "muscles" you're trying to show off haven't quite come in yet" she said. Her son frowned with an eyebrow raised, "Love you too, mom." he said as he bolted past his mother and straight into the bathroom.

Once in the bathroom the young man observed his face in the mirror,he wasn't sure why he was so excited,Elliot had attended a much MUCH smaller wizarding school in north Detroit.A school called North Cross,it wasn't much,it was only an old mansion that could hold no more than 60 stared at his slightly tan skin,being a growing young man it wasn't a shock that he began to grow facial hair grew in patches,some strands were much longer than others,he opened the mirror to retrieve a the mirror he began to shave off his stubble until his chin was smooth and peach fuzz free,making sure not to cut had always liked muggle things,much like his father,he always at least tried to understand the muggle Elliot loved music,he frequently listened to "Rock and Roll" bands as muggles referred to them as. Elliot even leaned to play many instruments including the guitar and piano.

After taking care of his morning duties, the young man emerged from his bathroom bright eyed and bushy tailed. Walking towards his closet, he pulled out his favorite player's jersey, Barry Sanders, and pulled it over his head. Elliot then went to his dresser and removed a very worn pair of faded blue jeans that had grass stains on the areas where it met his knees, as well as a few paint splotches from when he had tried to paint his room without his parents knowing, and put those the young man kneeled down and grabbed a shoe box from under his bed, and pulled from the old tattered box,his favorite pair of sneakers that were relatively new since he had just purchased them from a man on the street for five dollars just last week. "Elliot! Come downstairs, your breakfast will get cold!" His mother yelled, as Elliot yelled back "Be down in a minute." He came back to the mirror in his room, grabbed a comb and styled his hair to his regular look with his hair being combed up and parted to the right.

"Today's the day, big guy. Five summers of saving up and doing odd jobs are gonna pay off." he said to himself with a bounce in his step. He stared at his reflection. Elliot was the son of two wizarding shop owners, Eric and Alyssa Stoneguard, to his knowledge they were poor but they always made sure he was fed and had something to wear. This was clear since they lived on a farm just outside of Detroit,Michigan ,with a big yard and in the middle of nowhere Elliot was free to do what ever he wanted,as long as it was ok with his mother. The Stoneguards were a strange bunch,his father loved tinkering with things that muggles used,anything from a television set to a 1990 Yamaha YX600 that he had restored when it was abandoned in a ditch near their home and so far, it's worked. The Stoneguards were even avid members of their community, attending events, voting, and even sending Elliot to Muggle summer camps from time to time. Elliot loved meeting new people, muggle and wizard alike, his parents had always taught him to be open minded and not to be afraid of people that were different from them.

Eliot began walking downstairs where the radio was turned on and his mother and father were in the kitchen slow dancing to Ray Orbinson's 'Pretty Woman',walking in on his rather large father twirling his much smaller wife around before kissing her neck. "Ahem!" Elliot said rather than grunted as his mother blushed and continued cooking,and his father chuckled "Oh one day you'll be doing the same thing" he said in a distinct Greek laughed rolling his eyes before sitting down at the table across from his wasn't long before his mother put a plate before Elliot and his dad that consisted of eggs,ham,and toast his mother sat In-between the two men and the family started to eat. Elliot's father Eric was a burly, Greek man with tattoos on his arms of on his left forearm the code of the aurors and his right was a scripture of some kind, his black almost brown hair was thick and curly no doubt messy from plowing the fields the Stoneguards owned outside of Detroit. He wore a gray plaid shirt which was a similar color to his son's eyes, his nose was stuck in today's wizard newspaper, "Merlin's Post." Elliot sat down next to his mother as she poured him a glass of milk. His mother, opposite to his father, was much smaller. She had long dark brown hair, no doubt it was passed on to her son, and she had the most prominent laugh lines Elliot had seen on a women as young as she was.

From what Elliot knew his parents were a rather young couple but he would rather die than ask his parents about their love life. "Well, son, looks like you won't be the only new student transferring in." his father said with a slim smile. "A lot of families in Europe are sending their children to Ilvermorny this year." he added taking a sip from mug. "Ah yes I heard about that, that poor Diggory boy" his mother said as she ate her eggs, Elliot had read in the paper a boy from Hogwarts was killed by the name of Cedric Diggory and was slain by You-Know-Who, himself. This frighten Elliot since apparently the only wizard that You-Know-Who ever feared was an old man an ocean away. This lead his parents to the topic and began to ramble on about how they had attended Hogwarts in their youth for that seemed like the 7th time in the past few days. Elliot ate his breakfast hoping that with a mouth full of food would be a good reason not to talk to his parents for a little bit, before he finally spoke as everyone was mostly done. "Are they like us?" He asked with genuine curiosity, "you know the kids from Hogwarts, like have they lived in plain sight and all? You guys know? Do they have as much interaction with muggles as we do?" Elliot added with a mouth full of egg. His father looked at him choosing his words carefully, "To an degree I'd say yes,especially since a good bit of them are muggle born, but for the ones that are 'pure blood' they have not done the things we do,at least a good bit of them have not." his father said to him as his mother nodded.

"Elliot, it's only right you go in knowing that not all wizards are like us." his mother said putting her hand on her son's head playing with his hair before Elliot slowly shifted to the right to avoid being petted. "Some wizards and witches don't see muggles as people, sometimes they'll treat people differently just because they were brought up differently." she said in a calming voice. His father nodded, "That goes for muggle born wizards as well, even wizards and witches that have open relations with muggles" Elliot sat there thinking "I see" he said as he remembered the summers as a child when he would go to camp with muggles, he had many fond memories of that time,and had even kept some good friends' phone numbers and had regularly contacted them over the years. He thought about all the odd jobs he had taken up for his muggle neighbors, he had even been invited by his friends from camp to see a Lions game in person. Elliot had spent ample time alongside muggles, eating their food, learning to play their musical instruments, even learning their leisure forms of entertainment.

"So how do I deal with those kind of people" Elliot asked his father as he smiled back at his son "Well Elliot, that's for you to decide, isn't it? You're going to be fifteen now in a few months and can make your own decisions, but I only ask you look before you leap, okay?" His father said as Elliot nodded. "Oh! Merlin's beard, we must be leaving soon." Elliot's mother said as she looked at her watch. "Elliot, dear, please go upstairs and make sure you haven't forgotten anything." his mother asked him as he nodded and ran upstairs. He looked into his room seeing it mostly clear, his closet was empty as was his dresser, and his book shelf that had contained his books for school was cleared out as well. Elliot looked at his signed poster of Barry Sanders and thought to himself, "no it should stay here," when it occurred to him he had almost forgotten his on earth could he forget such an important item,especially one as unique as this one.

"That was almost a disaster." he said to himself as he grabbed a silver lighter from the top of his dresser and clicked the igniter and in a burst of flame and smoke, a wand had appeared in his hand, 12 inches long and a horned serpent horn at its core with stylish silver tree carved into the white aspen wood. His wand was his most prized possession that his father had actually made. As suddenly as it had appeared, with a click of a button at the bottom of the wand and with a puff of smoke and a burst of fire, it had become a small silver lighter again. Elliot, now with his wand in his pocket, set off down stairs again and met his father on the front lawn. The two men put his trunk in the back on an old white Chevy, His father had charmed the trunk so it was much bigger on the inside,so that way he could fit everything in that one chest, just so that it would be easier to move in.

After the chest was put in the back, the family drove from their humble farm home to Detroit station. It wasn't much to look at, it was just an old run down structure that was falling apart, or at least to muggles it was. At the entrance, Elliot's father pulled out his wand, tapped the door handle three times, and opened it, revealing hundreds of people going about their business. There were wizards and witches from all over the world. Just the shock and awe from seeing so many walks of life made Elliot smile as he pushed along a cart that housed only his Stoneguards walked together until they found a sign that read "To Ilvermorny. Please have your letters or prof of attendance ready." Elliot reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper that was folded so many times that it had many creases when it was unfolded, and kept it in his hands as a man in a blue conductor's uniform stopped them.

"Letter?" he asked as Elliot handed him the paper and skimmed over it. "Atta boy,young man if I am correct you're only the 4th student from NorthCross to go to a major Wizarding School" the man said with a tone of enthusiasm,Elliot smiled. "Actually the 5th ." he said as the man raised an eyebrow. "Ha-ha well I suppose that would be common knowledge for a student of North Cross,any how son show those New Englanders how we do things in the Motor city." he said with a chuckle and let Elliot on board. Before Elliot could say goodbye to his mom and dad, his father gave him a firm hug with his big burly arms and lifted his son in the air. As Elliot tried to speak, his father only squeezed harder. Elliot just smiled and rolled his eyes before finally being put down. "Thanks for the collapsed lung, pop." he said with a chuckle as his mom came in and kissed him on the check. Elliot moved back just in time to receive a second,knowing perfectly well someone from school would have seen that "oh,no no no can't have none of that now. I won't be labeled a momma's boy the first day." he said rubbing where the kiss had hit his skin, his mother only smiled.

"Aw, but what's gonna happen if my baby boy finds a girl he likes?" she said with a pouted lip to her husband, as Elliot rolled his eyes and gave his mother a hug. "Well, he's going to be the best beater in school history, isn't he." his father said with a chuckle and tousled his son's dark brown hair. "He's going to need it to beat off any unwanted lassies." he said in laughter as Elliot's face grew red. He quickly climbed aboard the navy blue train with silver trim and waved good bye as he began to search for a place to ride the long trip to Greylock, Massachusetts. Elliot dragged his trunk, passing student filled compartment by student filled compartment until he had reached one that was empty only 3 or 4 rows down from where he had gotten on the train. He slid the door open and dragged his trunk into the room and closed the door.

Elliot loved talking with people and meeting new friends but he wanted them to come naturally, he didn't want to force confrontation. Elliot sat down on one of the benches on the right hand side of the room and opened his trunk which was filled with parchment, books required for class, potion ingredients, and such. Elliot dug deeper and deeper he smiled and exclaimed, "Here we go!" and pulled out his guitar. The guitar was a little past its prime with chips in the mated black paint. Elliot had carved his name into the back of the instrument so it was easily identifiable. He then closed the trunk and put his feet up on it. He had noticed in the few days his guitar spent being shoved into the trunk it needed to be tuned again. The trip was going to be a long one, one that might take 5 to 6 hours maybe more, so he packed things to keep him occupied. Of these items, his favorite was his guitar. He had found this particular instrument in an alley outside what muggles call a pawn shop in south Detroit.

He began playing with the tuners at the head of guitar, plucking at the strings. His father had enchanted them, every string glowed a different color when plucked, and the shade of the color varied on how much tension was on the string, It was beautiful to play, especially at night under the stars. Elliot didn't try to be very courteous to the other kids in the compartment next to him, because they talking very very loudly, and most likely couldn't even hear him over their own conversation about if there was going to be any cute American boys and of course that the door was shut. He reached into his left pocket and pulled out a blue pick, and so he began strumming songs he knew very well. His compartment filled with soft music as he hummed and sang to himself, "Life is bigger, it's bigger than you, and you are not me. The lengths that I will go to, the distance in your eyes. Oh no, I've said too much. I set it up." The vocals echoed in the room perfectly as he continued to play R.E.M's 'Losing My Religion'.

"That's me in the corner. That's me in the spotlight, I'm losing my religion. Trying to keep up with you, and I don't know if I can do it. Oh no, I've said too much, I haven't said enough." He went on add-libbing, as he didn't feel much like singing the whole song. He began to just strum the song with his eyes closed, happily sighing as the room filled with the beautiful lights of reds, blues, purples, and vivid greens until the four minute piece was finished. The cords let out a final note and letting it fade out,with a pleasant sigh he opened his eyes and sat up straight as he noticed there was a crowd of girls were standing outside his compartment. "Um hello?" he said, waving his hand as the crowd waved back. "Aw,why'd ya stop?" one of the girls in front asked with a British accent.

They honestly looked saddened that he stopped playing. He took a deep breath, "Um well, I wasn't expecting to play for a crowd." he admitted as he stood and opened the door. "Well, I would invite you in, but I don't think you all would fit." he said counting nine girls in his head. "That's fine! Could we please, if it isn't too much trouble, could we hear another melody?" Another girl said, "It'll be no trouble for us to stand a bit." "We've been playing cards for the past 3 hours." a brunette girl added in a Scottish accent. "Oh yea, of course it's no trouble." Elliot assured the crowd as he used his foot to slide the truck to the window and took a seat on the trunk letting the girls sit on either side on the beaches. Thankfully, only a couple had to stand though, it didn't look like they minded.

"Um, any requests?" Elliot said with a nervous laugh as the girls looked puzzled at each other. "Oh, we're terribly sorry, but I don't believe any of us know what it is that you're playing." one girl admitted as Elliot cocked his head. "You don't know what a guitar is?" he asked as the girls,pointing to the instrument on his lap,as the girls shook their heads. Eliot smiled "it's a wonderful instrument." Elliot explained, "I'm surprised you all don't know this instrument when arguably some of the greatest rock and roll groups of all time were from England." he chucked as the girls still looked puzzled. "Oh, is that so?" one girl asked. "Rock and Roll?" another added on as Elliot gulped. "The Beatles? Rolling Stones? Queen?" Elliot asked. The girls looked at him as if he was speaking a different tongue all together. "Haha, alright, looks like you girls are gonna be in for a treat." he said chuckling as he fiddled with the knobs again and cleared his throat.

"Well this little number is from a One-hit-wonder band in the 80's. It's called "your love" he said giving the song some kind of introduction. Some of the girls nodded and politely clapped as he Elliot began strumming the opening chords. "Josie's on a vacation far away, come around and talk it over, so many things that I wanna say. You know I like my girls a little bit older, I just wanna use your love tonight, I don't wanna lose your love tonight." he sang with his foot tapping the tempo as the girls smiled and observed the beautiful lights emanating from Elliot's guitar. They began clapping to the rest of the song and tried to sing along with the chorus, giggling since they didn't know the words. The song and colors faded out and he was met with the cheers and claps of the small crowd. "Oh that was quite lovely." one girl said clapping softly "May I ask, where did you learn to play that, that guitar?" another girl asked in a French accent mispronouncing guitar as Elliot smiled. "Oh, well my family rather likes understanding how muggles make due without magic. One of their pastimes is music and this is one of their instruments, so I learned how to play." he explained as the girls nodded in understandment. Almost an hour and a half had gone by with Elliot performing nearly every song he knew how to play for his crowd.

His latest balled faded out as once again he was met with polite claps and girls asking who's song that was and all. Elliot noticed a rather beautiful girl with long jet black hair that fell to her mid back and electrifying green eyes that was standing in the doorway of the compartment. She had the Ilvermorny school uniform already on and, oddly on top of that she wore black robes with a green pendent on it that no doubt belonged to the Slytherin house in Hogwarts. One thing was for certain, she hadn't been there the whole time. She had her arms crossed and her face was beautiful, yet formed into a scowl. Once the final chattering died down, she cleared her throat and in a proud English accent said, "So, you're the one making all this noise." Elliot gulped knowing she didn't like the personal concert. "Um, well you can just feel the awkward can't ya?" Elliot said with a slight smile as he didn't know how to react. "Haha um yes that was us, I'm sorry. We had forgotten the door was open." a girl said that was standing up while the other girls seemed to avoid looking in her direction and looked down at their feet or laps. Elliot stood up, putting his guitar down where he had been sitting. "I have no need of your sorrow." the girl said taking a step into the compartment as the presence of her clearly made the girls sitting down shiver. "We're sorry Amelia, we were just enjoying this boy's music." one of the girls said as the girl stared her down with her vivid green eyes. "Oh I'm sorry. I was unaware I was speaking to you, mudblood." she said. Elliot stood there his eyes widened and raised an eyebrow.

The girl trembled with tears forming in her eyes but she held them back as Elliot took a step towards Amelia. "Now, that isn't a very nice thing to say." he said putting his hand in his pocket, softly gripping his silver lighter. "Oh cry me a river Muggle-Lover." she said poking her wand into Elliot's chest as the boy pulled out his lighter and clicked the igniter. The burst of flames frightened the green eyed girl and Elliot took the opportunity to press his wand against her neck. "Put that away before someone mistakes you for a witch." Elliot said coldly. With a click, the wand returned to its lighter form and the girls eagerly left the compartment. It was only in the corners of Elliot's eyes could the herd of girls be seen leaving it was not until a few beats of silence passed until Elliot heard "My oh my, Blackledge. Must be a new record. Haven't even stepped foot in Ilvermorny and already you're letting that stick up your arse put ye in a bad mood." an Irish voice said. Amelia stepped to the side relieving a boy with big brown eyes and pale skin. His dark brown hair was covered by a black newsboy hat that was tattered and had patches on it.

"How about once in ya life ye loosen up and enjoy what the muggles have to offer, ya git." he said leaning against the doorway as the girl pouted. "Shut it, MacAlister." she barked shooting him an angry look and tightly gripping her wand. The boy ignored her words and walked right past the black haired girl right up to Elliot. "Aye what's your name laddie? Anyone that can play like that is good in mi book." he said extending his hand as Elliot took and and shook it. "Name's Elliot." he said as the boy tipped his hat. "Good to meet ye, Elliot. Name's James MacAlister, but any bloke can see I'm a Rory." he chucked, but Elliot wore a confused look on his face."I take it you're from Ireland?" Elliot asked chuckling,as Rory cracked a smile "Spot on boyo,why? Oh you think just cus I'm Irish I'd be red haired and green eyed?" He responded with a hardy tried to think of an excuse for his folly but Rory waved him off "aye don't worry ye American shite all is forgiven ha-ha" he said in a joking tone, making Elliot feel much better.

"You know what my guitar is?" He asked trying to move the conversation forward, Rory smiled. "Aye I do. I play the drums meself." he said as Elliot's eyes glowed with excitement. As the boys began to speak of instruments and bands alike, Amelia only scowled at the pair as if she hated the mere idea of conversing with Elliot. "Oh don't mind Amelia. The prat is just mad mommy and daddy shipped her off to the states." He continued on as Amelia seemingly lost her temper. "Oh I'm the prat!?" She yelled as Rory rolled his eyes. "Nooo, not little Miss Amelia Blackledge. Not one of the prettiest and smartest girls in Slytherin. Oh no, she couldn't possibly be a prat YES,you,ya twit." Rory yelled out in a mocking and sarcastic tone, turning around to deliver his retort as she gritted her teeth. "MacAlister, you know damn well I will hex you." she said in sly tone as Rory hugged himself. "Oh no. I'm shaking in mi boots, Lassie." he said pretending to shiver as another boy entered the compartment. "Amelia?" the boy asked. He was defiantly related to Amelia. He had the same curly jet black hair and those vivid green eyes as the girl who gave off an enormous elitist vibe.

The boy asked before Amelia turned and quickly loosened her grip on her wand, sighing with relief as she began to speak. "Oh, John, dear baby brother, be a good boy and make sure no one's coming." she said and quickly drew her wand on Rory who only raised an eyebrow. "Come now, Johnny boy. When are ya going to stand up for yeself, and stop being ya sister's lap dog?" he said as John, clearly a few years younger than Amelia, took a step back, looking at the floor and Rory met the tip of Amelia's wand with his finger and pushed it away from his face. "I mean, why do ye scare the boy? It's one of the reasons he has trouble being sociable." Rory managed to say before getting cut off by Amelia. "MacAlister shut up! He is MY brother and we have a healthy relationship." Amelia said through gritted teeth while stomping her foot. "Oh you're right, I completely agree with ya." Rory said with a vivid shaking of us head. "Only, replace "healthy relationship" with "vicious dictatorship" and I'm 100% with ye." he added with a sly grin.

"Amelia, we really should be returning to our own compartment." John said taking a step forward and tugging on his older sister's robes. "Fine ,I'll let the fiddler be, but you and shamus here better keep the noise down. This trip is long enough as it is! Come John, we're off." she said taking John by the wrist and made a hasty exit. "Ahh that Blackledge laddie. Only reason I put up with his sister. He's a real good egg,known the lot ol mi life." Rory said as he threw himself onto one of the benches. "Mind if I crash with ya, Elliot?" he added looking up at Elliot. "Of course not, but don't you want to fetch your trunk?" Elliot asked as Rory sat up. "Oh, you're right boy-o." and with that the young man stood up, adjusted his hat, and walked out of the room, leaving Elliot alone in silence. Elliot shrugged as he opened his trunk and pulled out a 6 pack of 16 ounce bottles of Coca-cola and sat lengthwise on one of the beaches, his back leaning against the wall with the outside view. Using the side of his lighter, he popped off the top of the bottle and took a gulp of coke before putting it on top of his trunk, and continued to play his guitar feeling the train ratel and shake.

Song after song he hummed, wondering when his new Irish friend would return. He would have his answer in a few minutes. After what seemed to be 40 minutes, Rory had returned dragging along a white trunk and two bags. Grunting he said, "Sorry I'ma bit late, but I was telling some mates about ya handling Blackledge." Rory entered sliding his trunk underneath one of the benches as he sat down on the opposite side of the compartment. "Oh and I hope you didn't mind. I brought a friend." Rory added as another young man entered with a bounce in his step. He was tall, dark haired, and tan skinned. His brown eyes showed so much life. "Howdy." he said, sliding his trunk alongside Rory's. "The name's Carter." he said as he put his hand out and Elliot shook it naturally. "Carter Caster." he added as he and Rory had obviously been acquainted. Elliot liked Carter. He was the first American he had met on the train. "So Rory, did you attend Hogwarts?" Elliot asked his new friend. Rory nodded and sat, leaning forward.

"Aye mate. I was in Hufflepuff." he admitted with a chuckle. Carter smiled, "what about you? Elliot, is it? Did you attend any other school in the states, like Fort North or Black Falls?" He asked as Elliot put down his guitar,and handing his new friends a bottle of cola each. "No, actually I attended North Cross,It's barley big enough to hold a single house of Hogwarts." Elliot said taking a sip of his own drink as the two looked at their bottles with confusion. "Oh, right." Elliot added chuckling, pulling out his lighter and popping the top off their bottles for them. "My family was too poor to send me to a big Wizarding School." Elliot said as Rory and Carter raised their bottles. "I hear that friend. I have 4 brothers and 1 sister." Carter said, taking a sip of his drink. "What the hell is this!?" He went on taking a huge gulp of his drink, and sighed after finishing half his drink. "It's Coca-Cola." Elliot said as Carter kept drinking. "Wow that's good." he admitted as Elliot took the empty bottle and dropped it into his enchanted trunk. "And what's your story, Carter?" Elliot asked handing Carter another bottle, having opened it for him prior. Carter took it cheerfully. "Thank ye kindly. Um well let's see, I'm a student at Ilvermorny. Haha, I'm in house Pukwudgie, along with my younger sister, Kit." he said taking a another sip of coke.

"Oh Pukwudgie, the healer house,aka, the misfit house." Rory said, laughing as he and Carter kept nudging one another's shoulders. "Oh shut it, Hufflepuff." Carter added, as Rory chuckled to himself. "Elliot? You said you went to a small wizarding school, right? So do you have any ideas what house you'll be sorted into?" Carter asked as Elliot put his feet up on his trunk once more. "Personally, I'd prefer to go into Thunderbird, maybe, just maybe Wampus. I hear they have the best Quidditch team in Ilvermorny maybe the best in the county." Elliot said as Carter choked on his drink and Rory started laughing making cola come out of his nose. Coughing, Carter tried to compose himself as Elliot sat there amused until Carter spoke. "You're damn right! Those asses beat everyone every year, and have for the past ten just in Quidditch,I might I add,Quodpot and Tandem Dueling as well!." Carter said as Rory raised an eyebrow. "Come again? Quodpot?" He asked as Caster smiled,"Of course I forgot our new friend was European" Carter said smiled sitting up straight and reaching into his trunk retrieving what looked like a little bigger than hand sized soccer ball,it was made from rubber but the corners were more defined and rigged no doubt so it would be easier to catch and began to play with it,tossing it back and forth between his two hands,before tossing it to Rory who began to observe it."That,my friend is a Quod" Elliot simply said pointing to the multi colored ball that had a different color on every hexagon."It's a game" Carter said as Rory's face clearly said something along the lines of "ohhhh",Elliot smiled before retiring the Quod from Rory."You see,the Quod,when in an actual match has a timer of 25 timer only counts down when it stays still,and a team of 6 must get the Quod into a cauldron while another team of 6 tries to stop the lot before the 25 seconds is up and the person that is in possession of the Quod must remain where he or she is when they received the the timer goes off than the last person who touched it is out,and the round is over when one person from one team is left standing or of course if the offensive team is scores first." Caster said giving a summery of how the game is played. Rory sat there taking a sip of his own coke "aye,I see,and only one round is played?" He asked as Elliot smiled "ha-ha no shamus,best of 5 rounds wins" Elliot said as he tossed the Quod to Caster.

"Well,back to the other conversation, I don't think Wampus is for me." Elliot said with a grin, taking a sip of coke while Rory cleaned his face. "Oh that right? Then what house is for ye?" he asked as Elliot shrugged. "I don't like being on an overpowering team. What's the fun in that if you can't grow and win with your team?" Elliot blatantly said as Cater smiled. "Spoken like a true Pukwudgie." he said raising his bottle in the air. Elliot rolled his eyes before clicking his bottle with Carter's. The three went on talking about one another's lives. Elliot discovered that Rory's family owns a shop in Diagon Alley and shipped their boy to America because of the death of the Diggory boy his parents were talking about this morning.

Carter on the other hand was born and raised in the small wizarding community in Minnesota and had four brothers and one sister. Oldest, twins, were Colin and Roland, his second older brother, Caiden, who was the Quidditch captain for the Thunderbirds, his younger brother Calvin, who was in his first year at Ilvermorny, and his younger sister, who was in her second year, Katherine, or as the brothers affectionately dubbed her, Kit. Carter went on to explain to Rory, who didn't bother to read the schedule for the 1st day, that everyone on this train either already attended Ilvermorny for more than 1 year, or is a transfer student from Hogwarts. Also that they were going to arrive ahead of the incoming 1st years, so that way, they could be sorted by their peers and not random young ones. Elliot also managed to find out that Carter, Rory, and himself were all in their 5th year. "Holy shit! Are we flying?" asked Rory cutting the bonding, looking out of the window to see the overview of fields. "Well of course! Did you not notice us take off or land to pick up other students?" Carter asked as Elliot had realized he had failed to look out the window once this entire trip. Carter chuckled. "You both didn't know? Oh this is rich, we've landed and took off at least twice." Carter said smiling at the two.

"We should be flying over Connecticut now." Caster said, standing up and stretching "Should be at Ilvermorny within the hour." he added, pulling his trunk from under the bench. "Good idea, Carter." Rory said, doing the same. "We'd better get our uniforms on before we land." he explained as Elliot mimicked his new friends, knowing they wouldn't look at him he pulled off his Lions jersey and opened his trunk, rummaging through it, pulling out a plastic bag and pulling from the bag a sky blue dress shirt, throwing it over his shoulders and buttoning it up to his rummaging in the same bag for another article of clothing Rory said "did ye read last weeks paper,they said the other Craven children were spotted in Europe" this came so out of left field that Elliot had to turn around to check is his ears had heard correctly.

"Oh yea,now those guy are bad news" Caster said as the two boys went back and forth talking about the Cravens "The Cravens?Who?" Elliot looks he received from Rory and Carter astounded him,"You've got to be bloody joking,laddie" Rory said wearing a pair of black dress pants and a white expression on Elliot's face said it all,Rory looked to Carter who met his face with another "how-how do you not know about this?It was front page news" Carter asked,Elliot was confused as well,his father had read the paper every morning than again it must not have bothered him since he had been in the states for over 20 years. "Ya know? Xavier Craven? One of..of You-Know-Who's most trusted death eaters,when You-Know-Who disappeared so did he…and his family" caster said as Elliot shrugged."Oye,the laddie should get caught up" Rory said to caster "just finish changing and we'll explain" Carter said as the boys went back the changing into their school uniform.

Unsure of why the Cravens were such a big deal,Elliot rummaged through the bag once more, grabbing a golden vest that had a red symbol of the Gordian knot on the left breast and buttoned that as well. He dug deep in the bag and grabbed a blood red tie and draped it over his neck and put up his collar. "Damnit." Elliot whispered as he realized he forgot how to tie his tie. "Oh, right." he said with a smile, and taking out his wand taped the tie and it magically tied itself. Putting down his collar flaps, he rolled up his sleeves, and changed into his black dress pants, making sure to grab his wallet, wand, and letter, and put them into his new straighten out his uniform he didn't bother putting on his cloak because he thought it made him look like a stereotypical wizard,he sat down putting his feet up on his trunk once more.

He waited for Rory and Carter to finish changing averting his eyes to the window seeing a beautiful bright blue sky and a storm off in the cleared his throat before sitting down followed by Carter,"Well,the Cravens, or at least Xavier and Weiss Craven were some of You-Know-Who's most trusted death eaters" Carter said in a hushed almost frightened tone as Rory nodded. "Aye,mi folks remember when You-Know-Who was in power, The Cravens hunted down Aurors,and when he was defeated by that Potter boy they didn't deny anything" Rory added hung on every word,this was the first time he was hearing about a death eater family "So,did they went to Azkaban?" Elliot asked only to hear the two burst out in laughter feeling a bit hurt he yelled "what?".Rory wiped the tear form his eye before saying "Oh no Laddie, they went on the run,never been caught" he finished this statement and that just sent shivers down his spine "Rumor has it they have been staying at multiple former death eaters mansions,the ones that cry and whine they were under the imperius curse" Carter added.

Rory leaned in almost as if to tell them a secret "If ye thought a death eater couple was bad,I've got news for ya,they had four children and they apparently were teaching them the dark arts" he said in a spooky tone. Elliot's mind was racing thinking about child death eaters,"So a literal family of death eaters is that right?" Elliot asked as the two nodded. "Aye,but the reason the children were spotted is about 5 years ago their eldest ran away" Rory said as Elliot opened his own mouth "How do we know this?" He asked as Carter raised a waved it around before saying "At first the mother and father went out looking,they assumed Aurors took him,but it was never confirmed. Actually no one knew if they had children,until the first one ran away,and no one knew about the other children till last week" Carter started to piece it together in his mind,"so why were the children spotted now if that was 5 years ago?" He asked as Rory scratched his head "ya got me on that one laddie,I'd bet that the blokes want to go back to You-Know-Who as a family,it was confirmed that they were looking for someone when they examined the victims of the children's crime" he said as those echoed in his mind. "The children's crimes?" He asked nervously,before Rory nodded "Aye,these arnt sweet and innocent kids here,they…they used one of the unforgivable curses" he went on to say as Elliot's jaw dropped.

Carter shivered,"ya,it's crazy,to think kids around our age would be capable of shit like that" he said as Elliot pondered the idea of using one of those curses on a fellow human being. "Who..who did they use it on?" Elliot asked afraid to know the answer,Rory sighed before saying "A poor old couple,retired Aurors,apparently they helped in the relocation of former death eaters as a reward for ratting on the others" the utter silence in the room could be cut with a clearing his throat to cut the tension said "thankfully they didn't use the killing curse,they imperiused the couple into telling them were their brother had went all those years ago" but this only confused about it,it didn't make much sense,why would they wait 5years to look for their own son. Why not just leave him be if they didn't bother with him for years? Elliot was just about to ask that vary question when he realized that the train had been stopped,he felt the scuffling of feet,he heard a clatter of voices out side their compartment,when he peered outside he only saw a sea of students gathering around."ohhh that can't be good" Rory said looking out of the window as well seeing the site,he too had just noticed the commotion before hearing a vary familiar,proud English voice say "Leave him alone!".

Chapter Two: The Sorting

"Oooh shite,that lassies gonna get all our arse's in deep shite" Rory said opening the door,running down the hall holding his hat down with his hand so it didn't fly and Carter followed right behind him as the three ran down the corridor passing empty compartment after empty compartment until they reached the outside of the train,a sea of students huddled in a circle greeted their eyes,surrounding two of them clearly being a tall black haired girl,but the other was a girl with silver blond hair that was tied in a bun,she had cold blue eyes that stared down Amelia,the air dead quiet as the new girl spoke "And if I don't?"could be heard clearly as the crowd took a step back as the unknown girl stepped towards Amelia. "I'll make you than" Amelia said coldly as the girls stood in silence once more."laddie,you'd better du somethin" Rory suggested to Elliot with a whisper while nudging his shoulder,causing Elliot to jolt forward a bit "don't look at me,angry women and I don't have a good history" Elliot said as Caster patted him on the shoulder,"No,no Elliot,that'd would be a VARY bad decision" Caster whispered.

The girl with ice blue eyes smiled sisterly as she drew her wand,as did Amelia,the pair began to circle one another causing the crowd to back off until the circle almost tripled in size. "I'd like to see you try,slut" she said proudly in a New York accent as Amelia's wand shook with rage as another familiar voice was heard "leave her alone!".It was John,the boy stood alone,walking into the circle right In-between the girls as the crowed continued their silence and the blond haired girl laughed softly. "Oh this adorable boy is gonna defend you? Hm? Aw so sweet" she said pointing her wand at the boy."You'll do for later" she said while Amelia's eyes widened "Don't you dare point that at my brother!" she screamed,no doubt about to say a curse as she flicked her wand,but not before the blond haired girl said "Expelliarmus" and Amelia's wand flew from her hand and the blond haired girl winked at her before turning again to John once more,the boy stood there,puffing out his chest and standing much more straight than he had previously.

"You,boy,speak your name" she ordered with a wand pointing at him as Amelia ran to her brother and hugged him ,shielding him."My name is John" he said proudly as his sister tired to cover his mouth,"well John,you got more spine than this bitch" she added laughing before saying "Petrificus totalus" the body binding curse,this pushed Elliot over the realizing it he had pulled out his lighter ,clicked it ,and yelled "Protego!" and with that the blue eyed girl fell her hands and legs bonded landed with a "thud" as everyone including the Blackledge siblings moved to the side so everyone could get a good look at Elliot,still standing in dueling stance frozen as the blond haired girl was sat up straight by the aid of what Elliot assumed were some of her bundle of hair loosened letting locks to fall over her face,her ice blue eyes stared right through Elliot's vary a gulp and with a small shutter in his voice he said "th-that'll teach you" the crowds silence annoyed Elliot,why did no one help? Why did Caster tell him to not do anything? He turned around to see Carter wide eyed,holding his hair in with his fists,"what did I just tell you"!?" He hissed,Rory ,on the other hand was happy and patting him on the shoulder "attaboy,Stoneguard,attaboy" he exclaimed while Elliot turned back to the girl. "oh, you messed up gray eyes" she said with a terrible smile plastered across her face as her pos

y helped her to her feet though she was still body was still bound together.

"I hope you know who I am,so you know who you crossed on day 1" she added with a smugness in her voice almost as if she hummed them. Elliot took a step forward and withdrew his wand,with anger burning in his chest he spoke loud and clear for all the crowd to hear "My name is Elliot Wilbur Stoneguard".Elliot declared as the girl only raised an eyebrow before chuckling "Well Stoneguard,you messed up, my name is Maxine Stormtreader,Prefect for Wampus" she said slyly as with ever word she spoke Elliot's fire in his chest slowly went cold and heavy and the smug grin on Elliot's face quickly dropped and all that could be heard was Rory exclaiming "Aw shite"."I wouldn't care if you were head-girl,no one in a position of power should do that" Elliot said clicking his wand and putting the lighter back into his pocket. Walking forward he continued "I may not know our friend here vary well,but I know what ever caused her to confront you,you probably deserve" Elliot said coldly as he walked across the crowd and picked up Amelia's wand,after walking back to the Blackledge's in silence,he presented the wand to Amelia. "I think this is yours" he said,Amelia who refused to look at him,took the wand coldly and John said "thank you" for her. "And to you,Miss Stormtreader…Ill see to it that your actions here this morning will not go unheard by the headmaster,and I'll see to it that badge you ware will go to someone more deserving" Elliot added not even looking at Maxine and walking back into the train,with Rory and Caster right behind him.

As the three walked in silence to retrieve there trunks,Carter kept sputtering and stuttering "ooooh boy ,oh man,Elliot,m-my friend, y-y-you screwed the pooch on this" he said in a terrible scared tone."oh shut it ye dry shite,Elliot all I wanna know is, how big are ye balls?" Rory said with a chuckle as the trio entered their compartment and Caster kept looking at the window "Ah man she's staring at our window man,dammit Elliot I told you not to do anything!" Caster said and a frantic tone as Elliot rolled his eyes. "what did you want me to do? Eh? Just stand there and let Amelia and John be attacked by what's-her-name?" He asked as Caster yelled "Yes! do you know who she is!?"he asked as Rory smiled "Now why are ye getting so up in arms for? Elliot's gonna be the one with a target on his back" this comment angered Elliot "I don't give a rats ass about who she is" He simply said as Elliot's shoulders got rocked by Caster who got into his face.

"Elliot! She runs everything! I don't know how to explain it but she knows everything,and I don't mean book wise,she has dirt on everyone in the school and what's knows how to use that information,it's infuriating because NO one stops her,not Wampus or any house,it's like she's in tight with everyone." He explained in a frantic and scared tone while Elliot shook loose from his grip "OK,Ok I get it,she's bad news so what" he said getting his trunk making sure everything was in it. "Ohhh Elliot,of all the enemies you could have made,WHY did it have to be Stormtreader!?" He yelled closing the curtain in the window "Teachers arrived,they got Stormtreader straightedge out,no doubt she's gonna pin everything on you" he said with a look of concern on his face.

"Let 'er" Rory said scoffing "A good bit of students saw 'erything" he added stretching as footsteps could be heard drawing nearer."don'tcha worry boy-o,we got ye back" he said tipping his hat while Carter sat down sighing "well say goodbye to ever getting in league with the popular students" he said as the door to their compartment opened and a man walked was tall,had dark red hair that was graying,he had a full beard to match first words were not to Elliot but rather Rory "MacAlister?" He said in an English accent,Rory looked at the man with confusion before laughing "Greyjoy!? Ya Loony shite,you've been for the past 5 years?" He asked standing up and the two men stood in silence until Greyjoy spoke "So you must be this Stoneguard fellow I've been hearing about" he said shaking Elliot's hand firmly "Yes sir,look I only did-" he tried to explain but Greyjoy interrupted "No,no believe me I know Treader,she..she is an interesting student,But I know what she's like I know whatever she got, she had it coming" he said as Elliot sighed with relief "….however,you did use magic outside of school,so Stormtreader and yourself will be penalized" he added as the room grew quiet.

"Don't worry son,since this is your first time attending this school your punishment should not be to harsh" he assured Elliot before opening the door,"Oh,and tell Malcolm that Eastran still has the scare from when I tried to sneak in and see your aunt" he said chuckling to the boys alone before calling out "you'd better get a move on,we're waiting on you",the boys quickly grabbed their things and exiting the ,Massachusetts was a small town in the mountains,the trail to the school was laid down stone with lots of small quint trio got in line with the other students to grab a carriage that no doubt took students up the mountain to Ilvermorny,the carriages much to the surprise of Rory were apparently pulled by nothing.

"Aye,now this reminds me of Hogwarts" Rory said tossing his trunk in the back of the carriage as did Caster and trio climbed aboard their carriage,noticing they had one seat not filled,"You all think we're gunna get someone,you know not a judging pure blood?" Caster said with a chuckle,Elliot laughed sighing noticing Stormtreader had gotten into a carriage directly in front of theirs,and sat on the opposite side from him so she could stare him down some more."Hey,Carter,lem-" Elliot was about to ask Caster to trade seats with him before John interrupted them,"do you all mind if I sit with you?" The boy stopped mid sentence and looked down at the boy and before he could answer Rory exclaimed "Aye Johnny boy,ya don't even have to ask boy-o" and opened the small door that made sure no one could fall out and waved the boy on board.

As he climbed into the seat next to Elliot he whispered "this way we can stare her down" and Elliot smiled and the boys shared a fist Rory introduced John to Caster they began chanting again to past time as the trip up the mountains would take no less than an hour."oh that's funny" Caster said as Elliot was still locked in a staring contest with Treader "huh,what?" He said while Rory turned to see what had his attention "Laddie,I won't judge a man on what he stares at,but I'd go with someone not so…so high and mighty" Rory said making Elliot look at his new friend with a blank expression."Imma let that one slide there shamus,now what's funny?" he asked Carter who was looking over his shoulder who was greeted with Stormtreader waving at the group."great, just great now she knows I'm with you,and it's funny how you and John are starting Ilvermorny and this is both your 1st year attending a magical school" he said as Elliot thought it over.

It was true,If John was starting his 1st year and Elliot beginning his 5th,technically since this was Elliot's first time ever attending a magical school it would be his 1st as well It's kinda humorous that there both starting together,but Elliot is 4 years older than Elliot thought more about his circumstance the carriage jolted foreword up the mountain. Elliot took this time to think to himself,about how dorm life was going to compare to living at home,was he going to like it? What house would he be in? Wampus,Thunderbird,Horned Serpent, or god knows time went on the boys,at least Rory,started talking about Hogwarts,about all the things that had happened since the Potter boy resurfaced and started to attend the school. Elliot didn't have to much interest in Potter,everyone thought him a savior or something,but as Elliot saw it he was a normal child like everyone Elliot did like that he grew up alongside muggles like him,and he wouldn't mind challenging potter to a Quidwitch match either,as far as Elliot was concerned the more famous Potter becomes the more likelihood You-Know-Who will return,and as long as Potter remains across the ocean Elliot wouldn't care.

When Elliot came out of his thinking Stormtreader was still in front of them still staring at him "what is her deal?" Elliot asked himself in his head,surely she didn't want to hurt him simply because he did the right thing,but than again she would have happily did away with John for couldn't put a finger on it but he had known Treader,from where? He didn't know,but those ice blue eyes that still looked him up and down had definitely peered at him before.A few minuets later the carriages had stopped and the gates of a elegant and magnificent castle,the white stone that made up the castle was beautiful,as the gates open the carriages began to move foreword once more,down an amazing cobble stone walk way that lead to the two huge front along the stone road were two huge marvel statues of the schools founders,in the middle of being polished from head to toe.

"Oye,Laddies, look" Rory said pointing at a row of people standing in front of the doors "those are the instructors" Carter said as the boys nodded,after they had come to a stop,the boys exited the carriage and retrieved their luggage. Dozens of gray human like goblins appeared out of no where taking the children's bagged with a smile,the sea of students migrated closer to the doors and the row of people,who were joined by Greyjoy who had accompanied the students up the mountain. The tall middle aged man standing in the middle of the line stepped forward,he was bald with a thick black beard,his brown eyes gazed at the crowd,Elliot had no doubts that he was nun other than William Frost the head master "Hello returning students and welcome to our new friends from across the pond" he spoke,while most of the students cheer'd and turned around and with a flick of his wand the huge,magnificent wooden doors opened relieving a great hall where four enormous tables on each grand table was carved a tree that had the greatest students the four houses had ever shiny headed man walked into the great hall,his instructors followed,than by the students most had broken off to sit at their respective tables including Caster and had noticed a boy siting in the front of the Thunderbird table that looked a lot like Carter,but was much more muscular and had his hair combed back and gelled,no doubt his brother stood to Elliot's right and the young John to his left,Amelia was standing in front of the new trio she kept occasionally looking back at him with a slight scowl before returning her attention to the front. Elliot knew she was just frustrated that John stood next to him and not her,he couldn't blame John,I mean if Elliot had a sister like her he'd hang with someone els all the time.

Knowing that the foreigners sorting was going to be held before lunch,the students from Hogwarts as well as Elliot stood inline in between the four grand tables as the instructors sat down at their own grand table overseeing the had felt a hole being burnt in the side of his head,looking with his eyes to his right he saw the bell,Stormtreader sitting in the middle of the Wampus table again staring at him with her cold blue quickly set his attention to the front of the grand hall where the head master stood from the staff table,he cleared his throat as the crowed grew quiet and the chatter died down."Now,now students settle down I know it has been an eventful afternoon so far" he said with a soft smile at Elliot,he went on "But now our new arrivals will have be sorted into either The Adenovirus Thunderbirds,or The Battle Ready Wampus,The Sturdy Minded Horned Serpents,or The Strong Hearted Pukwudgie".

With a snap of his fingers,the space In-between the four grand tables and the staff table appeared a small elevated stage with four life sized wooden carvings of a Six legged leopard,a enormous bird,a huge horned serpent,and an armored goblin like creature in the center of the stage a huge image of the mythical Gordian knot could be carvings themselves were alive,breathing,looking around seeing the new crop of students "if you do not know how Ilvermorny's sorting is handled well it's not to difficult to understand" Frost said with a chuckle. With that he smiled at a rather young looking instructor with dark brown hair and laugh lines around her cheeks,he big brown eyes looked kindly on the crowd as she spoke with a Boston accent "Hello students,for those that don't know me my name is Alice Caster,I am the schools muggle studies professor. I will call you up,one by one,and these enchanted carvings will judge your character and sort you into a two or more houses chose you,than you will have the option to pick which house best suits you" she said with a warm smile.

Rory and Elliot looked to Carter,who looked at them back with a shrug as the resemblance was clear,at least from mother to son. retrieved a large roll of parchment from her pocket and unrolled it before reading from it. "Logan Hunt" she read out and a young man walked up the to the carvings and immediately the Thunderbird flapped it's beautiful wings and caw'd,the Thunderbirds cheer'd and chanted "BIRDS! BIRDS! BIRDS!" In unison clearly continued reading from it,one by one,student after student was sorted "James MacAlister" and with that the boy walked towards the carvings with a bounce in his step and adjusted his hat before standing in front of the mighty a moment nothing happened,the serpent and leopard sat there,observing him,the bird didn't look his way and the goblin unsheathed his sword presenting it to crowd began to snicker,Rory took a deep breath,knowing exactly what that meant he walked forth and took the sword from the kneeling goblin and the smallest table began to cheer welcoming their newest member,joining their new friend a part of Elliot wanted to be in Pukudgie,since his two new friends were now members,but a familiar name forced him back to the world of the living "Amelia Blackledge" was called and the green eyed girl walked his knowledge that she belonged to Slytherin at Hogwarts,it came to no surprise to Elliot that the serpents head glowed and its tail rattled.

Not long after only a handful of students were left,including John and Elliot,a girl named Charlotte also went to the Serpents,a boy named Samuel went to the Johns name was called and the black haired boy with excitement took his turn to stand in front of the carvings,Eliot could feel the boys sister's gaze fall upon the boy,knowing she disparately wanted him to be in the same house as looked to Amelia who was holding her breath and sitting with the girl he recognized as Charlotte,but his attention was stolen by the sound of a sword being unsheathed,he quickly turned to see the goblin kneeling once again presenting its sword to the boy."Oh man,that's gonna be a problem" Elliot said to himself,knowing a rage was going to be brewing inside Amelia,the line grew smaller and smaller until only around 7 remained."Elliot Stoneguard" his name was called,Elliot smiled finally he would get his answer,he would be the young man jumped the two steps that led to the elevated stage the four carvings stopped all moment and looked at the boy

The serpent was the first to react,the great snake slithered off its pedestal,hissing,circling Elliot "what the-" He managed to say while the Thunderbird caw'd,scratching at the snake as the two great beasts began to stare each other two carvings snarled and circled one another leaving Elliot dumbstruck,the whole hall fell silent surely seeing this spectacle for the first time,the silence was only broken by the Wampus who roared and leapt from its own pedestal startling Elliot who walked backwards into the Pukwudgie carving who looked down seemingly to avoid the conflict. The three great beasts continued to have their Mexican stand off,the head master sat quietly with his hand in his beard studying the situation,the other instructors began to converse with themselves but once again no one did a thing.

The Wampus growled at the great bird who puffed out its chest to appear larger,the snake hissed before standing on the side of the bird knowing the Wampus was going to be the biggest threat."Ok ,enough!" Elliot yelled running in between the beasts,he stared right at the six legged creature and felt the breath from the other two carvings on his back as he spun around looking at the bird and crowd gasped as the snake lunged at the boy ,Elliot was too fast on his draw,clicking his lighter and aimed it at the snake who froze and stared into Elliot's gray Wampus let on a mighty roar,causing Elliot to turn quickly seeing the leopard almost bow to him before the beast sat atop his pedestal once more.

Elliot lowered his wand,the two remaining creatures circled around him,the Thunderbird flapped its wings and caw'd flying off and landing on its own pedestal. Elliot's breath stuttered as this meant the Wampus and the Bird chose him,he looked to Stormtreader who grinned knowing now he could choose a snake only remained it hissed almost laughing at Elliot, its long body circled him once more Elliot's wand drawn heard a whistle,his head jerked in the direction of the goblin,it rose its shoulders before un-sheathing his sword and throwing it to boy smiled tossing down the sheath and drawing the blade witch was made from steal and not wood,the snake hissed before retreating to once side of the stage no doubt deciding how to approach the boy."what's wrong? Now that the other carvings arn't in the equation you don't feel like attacking first?" Elliot said taunting the carving,it only hissed and growled.

Elliot and the snake stood still,it was complete and utter silence in the great hall,"come now mate! Get on with it,Some of us blokes wanna eat" Rory yelled from the Pukudgie table causing a wave of laughter,after Elliot charged the snake nicking the top of its left horn chipping it a bit causing a small chunk to fall from sake cried in pain before coiling up and retreating to its pedestal,it refused to make eye contact with Elliot when it's gem on its head began to glow and Elliot sheathed the sword and the hall reputed with cheers and clapped the loudest standing up chuckling "My,My this is hasn't happened for a few decades now,All four houses chose you boy and three of them were willing to fight for show,good show my boy now make YOUR choice" he said sitting back down as the tables still cheer'd,the Thunderbirds chanted once more the three main tables began to argue what house was better for Elliot.

"Wampus is the way to go! If you like Quidditch,Quodpot,or just like being the best" one boy said as all of Wampus agreed,Stormtreader was smiling clapping along with the crowed."No way he likes learning about Muggles! He should join the serpents" said one of the girls who he played for in the train,"Oh please,Dawn,the guy takes on Stormtreader first day of school! He's an adventurer!" Yelled Caiden,the thunderbird to the Serpent looked to the sword he had in his hands,than to the smallest table who wasn't cheering nearly as loud since Elliot could clearly hear Rory,Carters,and Johns seamed as if the Pukwudgies were just going through the motions,they seamed to not care much,Elliot thought it over in his head and handed the sword and sheath back to its stood before the four tables smiling as we jumped off the stage and walked right for the Pukwudgie table to the surprise of the Pukwudgies themselves who took a minuet to understand what had happened. Elliot sat down all the noise seemed to stop,it was so calm you could hear a pen drop,it was only when some Pukwudgies turned around murmuring "wait? What? Why is he sitting here?" and as if it wasn't awkward enough they began to cheer,going crazy.

"Ok you have got to tell me what the hell all that was?" Carter said over the cheers as the Pukwudgies surrounded him patting him on the back "your guess is as good as mine" Elliot said chuckling as he noticed all three of his new friends saved him a seat near them."why did you choose Pukwudgie?" John asked as went on call the few remaining students names "um well your sister is in Serpent,Stormtreader is in Wampus,and I'm pretty sure the Thunderbirds are full of themselves" Elliot said as the four the 6 left had gone before the carvings,non of witch were as shocking as Elliot's,Headmaster Frost stood up once more."alrighty well after that fiasco I think it's safe to say we are all a little hungry" he said with a smile before the Pukwudgies,the actual goblin creatures and not students, walked out from the kitchens carrying silver dishes and pitchers and laid them across all five saw so many foods,chicken,beef,hardy soups,and even vegetarian substitutes,another small grey Pukwudgie placed a silver plate in front of him and smiled saying "please help yourself young master".Elliot smiled back and nodded his head having no problem using a pair of tongs to grab a chicken breast and using a ladle to serve himself a side of corn and mashed boys had no trouble digging in to enjoy their lunch,Elliot took a lot of the time to meet other Pukwudgies who sat near them,Caster had introduced Elliot to some of the members of the house Quidwitch team. "This is Malcolm Priester,he's one of the teams chasers" Caster said showing him a dark skinned boy with thick black hair and brown eyes,he shook Elliot's hand firmly "I'm Elliot Stoneguard" Elliot said as the two got introductions out of the way.

"And this is Annie Spellmen,the third year with attitude" Caster said with a smile as Annie glared at him,she was rather slender and petite,she had shortish brown hair that was curly that was mostly un-styled besides a small braid on the side of her face."she's the teams seeker" he continued as she her face grew more irritated,"Yes thank you caster but we can introduce ourselves you dumbass" she said shanking Elliot's hand "This is Aaron Wicken" Wicken shook Elliot's hand with a smile and Annie went on. "Joey Lopez is the Mexican at the front of the table ,and the Chinese dude next to him is Thomas Lee" She quickly went over pointing to two boys,Joey looked to be older than Elliot as did Thomas,Caster rolled his eyes."Wicken here plays chaser,so does Lopez,and Lee is our keeper".Annie stuck her tongue out to Caster who pouted "that's everyone,Both our beaters graduated last year,and our captain" Wicken said closed her eyes and puffed "Stop,just because our best chaser is gone don't mean we can't win" she said as Elliot leaned back on his char and raised an eyebrow and grinned.

"Well I'd say we're in luck" Elliot said laughing taking a sip of his aloe juice,"I happen to play beater" he added as Wicken sat straight "you any good?" He asked as Rory laughed "Well,the Laddies a Wampus,Thunderbird,and Horned Serpent" he said chuckling "I'd say the carvings have spoken" he added as Wicken wasn't so convinced "lucky charms,here has a point,my only problem is that now you've gotten yourself the attention of Treader hopefully you got another beater up your sleeve" the small girl said with her arms tipped his hat "Aye,No worries,lassie I'm your mate" he said taking a sip of his own drink,"Well it's not us you gotta convince" Annie grinned as a hand dropped on his shoulder squeezing it. Elliot winced looking up to the vary familiar face "Quinn?!" He yelled looking up at his mothers older brother.

His uncle stood tall at 6 foot 5,his gray eyes beamed down at Elliot with a chuckle the man said "That's ,to you,runt" he spoke shaking his nephews hand,"ah I see you've met the B-Team" he said with a Spellmen and Wicken looked to Elliot with surprise "How do you know Coach Linxer!?" The small girl yelled as Elliot grinned "this prat is my uncle" Elliot replied as Annie cleared her throat "oh don't worry pint sized,this git is gonna have to earn his place on MY team" he assured the short girl laughing "that makes two of us" Rory added putting a hand on Elliot's shoulder and smiled and nodded,"oh don't worry,I'll whip you both into the best beaters this school has ever seen,IF,I decide your on the team" he added with a hardy laugh.

The tall man patted his nephew on the shoulder one more time before saying "How's my dear baby sister?" Elliot smiled before replying "oh she's fine,her and dad just renovated the shop" his uncle looked at him with a raised an eyebrow. "Aye,I see Eric still wants to be an entrepreneur" Quinn said chuckling "Well it's been working so far,I mean with the wizarding shop in the back we get a steady flow of muggle money and galleons" Elliot assured his tall man smiled before being called over by an instructor "Well Elliot I'd love to stay and chat but duty calls" he said smiling at the group before setting off.

"You'd better not be a coaches son" Annie said glaring at Elliot as Linxer walked away,Elliot smiled,"I'll let my skills speak for me" he said taking a sip of took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair,the small 3rd year only glared at the boys "ya know for a Pukwudgie,you're a mean lil git arnt ye" he said did not amuse the girl who only focused on her food,the boys shrugged,Elliot went back to eating his own plate, not long after he was interrupted by one of the girls from the train."Ello,um,mi names Molly Stevenson" the girl introduced herself in a Scottish accent making Rory tip his hat so he wouldn't be noticed and teasingly clicked his tongue. "Oh you were one of the girls I played for on the train" Elliot said with a smile "Um yes,I'm sorry I didn't introduce miself earlier" she said in a frighten toned.

"Oh no it's perfectly fine,I mean y'all ladies must have been tired from waiting on that train" Elliot said trying to make Molly not feel guilty,she kept looking behind her and than back at Elliot. Molly's eyes looked shaken up she,looked right into Elliot's eyes before speaking in a vary calm voice " would like a word with ye after you've settled in,in your dormitory".It was almost uncomfortably calm as if she was in a daze "Miss?" He asked with a confused look "she's our prefect,I wouldn't want to get on 'er bad side" she continued still in the dreamy made Elliot uncomfortable he leaned to one side of the girl ,expecting to see that sadistic smile but there wasn't one. In fact Stormtreader wasn't there at all,he sat back straight and addressed Molly "Alright,you tell your PREFECT,I'll meet her any time anywhere".Just had her calm and dreamy demeanor had come,it disappeared and she went back to being bumbling "oh alright,thank ya for your time " and with that Molly was her absence their part of the table grew silent,with awkwardness thick enough to cut with a knife.

"I told you" The silence was broken by Caster "Not even here 2 hours and she has a European lap dog" he said looking down at his empty plates Annie's refused to look up at them,Wicken gulped "I really do hope you haven't gotten on her bad side. Wampus always make sure to cream us extra hard" he said making Elliot roll his eyes. The notion that these Pukwudgie would be pushed around so easily offended him "We're Americans are we not? No offense John,Rory" Elliot said staring at his new was another hush as no one could speak "I mean please,do all of you not have a back bone?" He said rather coldly,the lot continued to stair at their empty plates that suddenly became so intriguing. "It's not that we don't stand up for ourselves,it's just were the smallest house" Annie said her and Elliot's eyes met "and your gonna let that get to you?" He said and her eyes stopped making now frustrated stood from his seat "if this is how you treat bigger,stronger,and or faster opposition out on the pitch then I really have made a mistake choosing this house" as he said those words a fire in his chest arose didn't wish to make enemies on day one but this was an exception,he would not be on a team that was afraid to play "Well John,Rory I'm not sure about you two but I will be finding our dormitory".Rory stood up as did John "We'll join you,it was nice meeting you all" John said with a smile and the three went off,the walk to back of the great hall was rather students had already left since they had already known where there dorms resided,only the new students needed to be filled trio finally made it to the back where Professor Greyjoy was standing awaiting the students that needed their schedule,he was standing straight with a smile on his face when he looked at the boys."Ah gentlemen,I believe you three have been sorted into…Pukwudgie?" He said in a disconcerting tone,The three nodded their head in agreement all but Elliot who hesitated to agree.

"Well,here are you're schedules for this year,One of your prefects should be able to show you to your dormitories,um one of them should be rounding up the Europeans now" he said handing the boys each a piece of parchment with a set of classes on further inspection he noticed he had Muggle Studies with from 9:00 to 10:00, and had Defense against the dark arts from 12:30 to 2:00. Elliot looked up looking at Professor Greyjoy observing his smug smile "you're the Defense Against The Dark Arts Instructor?" He asked casing the other two boys to look up from skimming their own schedules. "That's a frightening thought" Rory said grinning,Greyjoy smiled back "oh don't worry boys I've been doin this gig for 5 years" he assured the trio.

"I got potions" John said tippy toeing to see Rory's and Elliot's schedule,"oh son you're in your first year,I'm afraid you won't have any classes with these two" Greyjoy said as it was clear John was disappointed. Elliot smiled "Don't worry bud,you'll still be in the same house as us,and your gonna meet so many cool people" he said giving the boy some peace."Aye,laddie,we gotcha covered,hows about we all bunk together" Rory suggested,Elliot thought it over,so far these two he'd rather liked "Why not?" Elliot said as John smiled. Greyjoy smiled as well "It's good to see new students getting along now,find one of your prefects" he said cheerfully,shewing the trio the three looked around the corridors leaving the great hall they saw a young girl herding other students "Alright new Pukwudgies,please follow me,I will take you to our quarters" she said proudly,her dark brown hair flowed off her shoulders she had dark beautiful brown eyes that calmed. She snapped her fingers and went off walking away from the great hall "This way quickly,quickly, We must get you settled so you can meet everyone and be back here for dinner and the second sorting" she said leading the pack.

"Surprised she's a Pukwudgie" Elliot murmured to his friends when a boy in front of them looked back,he wasn't a European,but he wasn't familiar either "Oh yea,Ol tall and mighty here got picked by Wampus and Us,surprisingly she chose us,kinda like you new guy" he said smirking."what's you're name gray eyes?" He said not looking back at the three and kept walking,Elliot liked this guy,he was straight forward,something Elliot liked in a person. Elliot noticed the young man had a hat similar to Rory's but his was gray and had the deathly Halloween sowed into it poorly "Names Elliot Stoneguard" the boy turned back "Nice to meet you,any idea why the carvings fought over you?" He said shrugged "Couldn't tell you,wish I knew" He said as the boy shrugged in agreement "Hm,well must be a good reason,I'm Setheran Cook" Setheran? must have been a name from the old country Elliot thought to himself. Setheran smiled "yea I know it sounds made up,but Every one calls me Louis" he said running his fingers through his black hair,Seth continued walking. Louis himself didn't look like the Pukwudgies he'd seen before,he was tall,had dark brown hair and looked solid "you play Quidditch?" Elliot asked their new smiled and shook his head "Nah not into chasing any glory,would rather sit around playing my bass, it's a shame it don't work out here, ya know no electronics" he said the sound of this made Rory's and Elliot's faces brighten. "What? acoustic base don't work for you? Would have been fun to treat these Brits to a show,I play guitar" Elliot said laughing slightly,Rory gave him a look as if to say I'm Irish ya American shite."oh nice you play?" Lewis asked as Elliot nodded with pride,and Rory added "I play the drums" in an almost feeling left out tone.

The boys were so immersed in talking about instruments,they had failed to notice they were nearing a dead end and when the group had stopped for further instruction the four kept walking and ran into the halted crowd nearly knocking over several dark skinned girl looked at the four boys who clearly weren't watching where they were going "Setheran,I thank you for doing you're part in helping make our new classmates feel welcome but I am in the middle of a tour" she said as Lewis smiled and tipped his hat before saying "sorry Harper". The girl shook her head moving the crowd along again "in the center of Ilvermorny,on our right,is the dueling center" she said as the group passed a large court yard that was gorgeous and filled with field itself was enormous,why it was so big Elliot didn't know,it looked as if it could hold 10 duels.

After walking past the dueling center and the group began to round a corner, the leader of the group stopped cold in their tracks,they had ran into another tour stood silent as the other group lead by Caiden Caster,Carters older brother,walked right past them not acknowledging Elliot's group what so ever. "You,gray eyes" Harper said to Elliot,turning around to face him,the fierceness in her voice made the boys stand straight and left them hanging on to every looked around to see if there was any other students with gray eyes,to witch their was none,"Yes?" He said almost afraid to ask,since the girl so far showed much walked right up to him splitting the group as they got out of her way,with every step she took the footstep was heard echoing in the hall until she was right in front of him.

"You'd better tell me that you play Quidditch and or Quodpot" She demanded as Elliot shook his head,yes,she smiled and turned him around to show him the backsides of the other group walking away from pointed at the group and said "Kick their asses,I will not be the laughing stock of this school for another year,and I hope you have more back bone than Lopez and Lee,those two would rather sneak out and party than practice" she said glaring at the opposing looked at the girl confused "And how do you know that I don't have a back bone" Elliot said with a smug smile the girl only grinned and pinched his ear. Louis smiled looking at his new friend,before tapping the leader on the shoulder "Harp,you really should lighten up in the kid" he said with his hands in his pockets.

She only looked at Louis before releasing Elliot's ear witch had turned red,once released Elliot quickly held it "ouch! What the hell man?!" He yelled as Harper didn't show any sign that she heard him. "You got picked by Wampus,Thunderbird,and Horned Serpent you'd better be brave,strong,and smart or I'll personally hand you over to Treader" she said coldly causing Louis to laugh. He continued chuckling until he started to wheeze "Goodness Harper,taking out the big guns" he said calming down,Harper only stared at him,Elliot looked at the two his eyes "ok 1,I have more back bone than anyone in this house. 2,Don't ever touch me like that again,and 3,I don't know why every ones so afraid of Stormtreader but I am NOT". He lied on the last part,from the moment that he and Treader's eyes had met he had felt uneasy,but he wouldn't let the Pukwudgies see he was dark skinned girl smiled,"good we need more of that,and I hope you can back up what you say,because she's looking for you" she said stepping to the side as in the distance there was a blue eyed,blonde girl walking towards them.

"Alright, big boy" Louis said with a grin fixing Elliot's hair and patting down his ruffled clothes while Elliot slapped his hands away."Remember use her first name,um stand up straight,and girls love magic tricks" he said winking pulling a rose from his sleeve,Trying to hand it to Elliot,Elliot only returned with clicking his lighter witch surprisingly could be used as an actual lighter and set the flower on fire. "Op,fire,that's fire!" Louis exclaimed groaned stoping on the rose "oh you're an ass" he said laughing as he and Harper each took one of Elliot's arms and walked him towards walked under his own power,shaking off his handlers before standing face to face with the Wampus' had noticed that she had let down her bun so it fell freely,she only gave Elliot a smile before speaking " ,Miss Evans" greeting the two older tipped his hat as the two girls shared a fake almost rehearsed conversation about each others hair and makeup,Maxine turned her attention to Elliot "And ,I am here before you to inform you Headmaster Frost has requested us to see him after you've settled in" she said very formally and with a small took a good look at her,from head too toe,he wasn't sure if she wanted to kill him or befriend him.

"Alright,Stormtreader" Elliot said but before he could get another word off he was interrupted, "oh please,call me Maxine" she said with a smile "Just so long as I get to call you Elliot" she added with that all to familiar sadistic smile. Softly gulping,Elliot forced a smile "oh alright,M-Maxine, I will meet you say here? In 1 hour After Ive settled in" Elliot suggested. "It's a date" she said warmly, extending her hand out to him and Elliot shook it before saying."No,not a date ,but alright it's settled" the the combination of her beauty and the knowledge of what she is like so far from second hand accounts did little to assure Elliot it would not be as simple as meeting her and walking to Frost's office. Knowing exactly what his new acquaintances were doing behind his back he turned seeing Setheran in the middle of conjuring smoke ring hearts from the tip of his wasn't hard to hear since everyone was giggling,the look on Setheran's face when he tried to act casual seemed to amuse Stormtreader because she laughed softly."Oh you're tie,it's a bit disheveled" she said a moment after the laughter had ended walking forward into Elliot's space and held the tongue of the tie in one hand and the knot with the other,gently she tightened the tie making sure it was perfectly snug. Looking her in her I icy blue using his own hands to remove her hands witch had not stopped clenching his tie after it was clearly fixed and adjusted,she went red slightly,before taking that moment to put a vary tightly folded piece of parchment in Elliot's hand.

Looking him right in the eyes she said "Aw, you shouldn't be so bashful if girls ask you out,could be a regular occurrence for you" she winked before walking away. Elliot made sure to tuck the parchment in his pants pocket for later,Setheran put an arm around Elliot's left shoulder "And thus the trio then wondered,what would Elliot wear on his date?" He began pretending to monolog as Harper put her arm as well around Elliot's right causing Elliot to be sandwiched between the two."Well he's got the uniform on..I think he's good for now" she added before Elliot simply took their arms off him and angrily un-straightened his tie "I hate ties" Elliot said as Rory patted him on the back "Aye,mate but if that means your gonna kick it with the likes of her,I'd say worth it" he what seemed like an entirety, touring the rest of the castle,everything from the Quidditch field to the Quodpot court,the group visited it didn't make much sense to Elliot since only like 7 students were sorted into this house. "Wouldn't it be easier to wait until the 1st years get here first?", Elliot thought to himself as the group finally reached what was called the "North West Tower" as it read over an archway when you first enter the general tower's area.

"What? How do we get up there?" John asked,it would have been a silly question,if it wasn't for the fact that the only thing in the tower was a ceiling,the only logical think Elliot could think of is that the password would open up some kind of smiled,standing in the center of the towers natural rounded room and said the phrase "The Highland way" and with that the wood from the ceiling contorted and began bend,the creaking of the wood was a little bit unsettling but amazing all the same. When the wood stopped creaking the final product was a spiral staircase that ran along the walls of the tower leading up to the common room and dorms. "I'm guessing that answered you're question Johnny boy" Rory said laughing patting John on the back,So far Elliot had come to like the Blackledge lad,however his sister..not so much. The group made its way up the stairs single file,Louis walked In front of Elliot "So Louis,I'm assuming you're not from here?" Elliot asked referring to his clearly not Boston making sure to watch his step since the railing though made of magic wood didn't feel to sturdy replied with a small laugh "is it that obvious? Nah I'm from Brooklyn".

"Cool,Cool I'm from Detroit" Elliot said proudly before a cheerful John said out of the blue "I'm from Bristol" Elliot assumed he began to feel left out. "So John,how are you liking Ilvermorny?" Louis asked the 1st year,"well already I meet nice people like Elliot and I already knew Rory,I'm hopping my luck will continue ha" John said with a warm smile. As the group ascended the stair case a bit they got half way up and finally they reached the living courtiers,Harper taped the handle of the large oak door that lead to the common room. When the door had opened reveling the beautiful room filled with ceiling high book cases and sofas,along with the rest of the Pukwudgies that didn't need a tour of the cupped her hands and said loudly "Alright upper classes,listen up,I just took the Europeans on the tour and now we have a few hours to kill before dinner and the second sorting got it!?" Getting thumbs up from multiple people she assumed they got the point.

"Alright,Setheran I'm assuming I can leave it to you to help the newbies with moving in?' Harper asked Lewis who nodded "you got it Harp,and you've known me for 6 years now,cal me Louis" he said chuckling waving along the new students as Harper smiled slightly. Louis lead the smaller crowed away from the common room and upstairs to the dorms, "alright boys with me" Louis said walking to the boys side before he realized one of the members of the group was a girl. "Ooooooh right,I should get you a female student ha-ha" he said peering over the railing "Yo! Lynn! Wanna help me out a bit?" He called to a student in the common room who happily floated over to them. "What's up Lou?" She asked happily as Setheran tipped his hat "I'm helping the Hogwarts kids move in,and this little lady is the only girl in the group" he explained and Lynn nodded her head before hugging the Hogwarts girl tightly. With a warm smile she said "oh don't worry Lou,I'll get this one sorted out" Lynn patted her on the head before giving Louis a thumbs up. "Make a note of this,you want something done, go to Lynn" Louis said tipping his hat once more before Lynn blushed "Oh you flatter me to much Louis,come along young one" she said walking to the girls side with the younger girl.

Opening the door to the boys dormitory Setheran lead them down the hall passing many doors that had the names of 4 persons on each door, towards the end of the hall they reached the part of the hall where the rooms were open. Standing before the doors Louis said "alright there's 5 open rooms and each can fit 4 people." Louis began pointing at each student counting them in his head. "Alright there's 10 of you now so get deciding who you wanna bunk" he added before John,Rory and Elliot looked at one another and nodded,Lewis pointed at the trio and said "alright you three are bunking?" He asked as the three nodded. "Cool,cool come here everyone" Louis said walking into one of the rooms waving everyone to follow him,the room wasn't anything special it had two bunk beds and a desk on each side. It had a large closet with a big window that showed the beautiful view of the mountain side,he turned everyone's attention to a red leaver that stuck out from the rest of the room. "Alright you lot,you pull this leaver if you need something from the Pukwudgies,and I mean NEED, do not waste the goblins do not enjoy prank calls" he said pulling the lever and with a crack a gray goblin apparated into the room. He smiled at everyone before saying "you rang sir?" Louis smiled before waving the trio forward "These students would like their luggage" he said as the goblin shook his head "yes sir, right away" he crooked before dissapparating.

"Alright, give them a moment" Louis said with a smile,not long after is when a group of 4 goblins appeared out of nowhere holding three trunks or rather trying to carry them on one another's backs. One of the Pukwudgies,rather the oldest by far,walked forth before saying in a grouchy tone "Alright than,would that be all boss?" Louis giving him the thumbs up said "for this lot I suppose,and good to see you Willie,getting you're exercise in I see" the goblin gave what Elliot thought was a boys helped the goblins put down their trunks beside both pair bunk beds before Louis clapped his hands "alright,the rest of you get to it" with that the other 7 boys quickly decided that a group of 3 would bunk together and the other 4 would share a room as well. Once the goblins finished delivering the others' belongings the whole group gathered once more,Louis cleared his throat and began to say "alrighty,now that you're settled I'd suggest you hang out with the others,maybe find you're classes,BUT take someone along this school is kinda big" he warned as the lot nodded in acknowledgment.

"OR,or we could all go play Quodpot ay?" Elliot suggested,making Rory roll his eyes and John stutter and say "quod-what?",Louis hummed as he thought it over with a hand on his chin. "Quodpot,my good 1st year,the American wizarding sport" Louis said addressing John before adjusting his hat and replying to Elliot "Well Stoneguard,I think that's a great idea but we haven't got a quod and the sport shed is locked up till practice". Elliot smiled before saying "ah you see that would be a problem,if I didn't have my own" turning around and heading right for his room he opened his trunk,rummaging through it pulling from it his matted black guitar,and the multi colored returned with the items holding his guitar by the neck,and tossed the quod to Louis who cought it with one hand,John walking forward,studied the ball in Louis' hands. Louis smiled before letting John hold the quod,"alright than its settled,oh but I do believe you have a meeting with a Miss Stormtreader,no?" Louis said with a sly grin checking his wrist watch.

Elliot rolled his eyes making John look worried "does that mean you're not gonna play q-Quodpot?" The 1st year asked him while he fidgeted with the giving him a reassuring smile said "of course I'm gonna play,I just need to put a prefect in her place" this was apparently rather funny because it made Rory laugh. "Oye, laddie if ya gotta go see ya new mistress at least tell the truth" Louis cracked a smile before Elliot groaned,griping his guitar harder making one of the strings let out a note before walking away from the group of boys. Louis called to him yelling "We'll be at the quod court when you're done with your romantic rendezvous with Stormtreader!" Guaranteeing that anyone in their rooms as well as everyone in the common room heard. Sighing, Elliot made the walk from the dorms witch was now filled with countless students cheering him on saying things like "Well if he's dating her than maybe we'll have a chance at the cup" and "Go get her,tiger" to the common room. Growing rather red faced Elliot draped the guitar over his right shoulder across his chest with the red guitar strap, as the entrance of the common room came closer he could feel the eyes following him slowly decrease in numbers. With two free hands he opened the door and began to descend down the long spiral staircase and found his way out of the north-west tower.

Chapter Three: A Not So Relaxing Game of Quodpod

Once free from the north west tower Elliot pulled out the tightly folded piece of parchment from his pocket before reading what was written "Dear,Elliot I'm afraid I lied about the pretenses of our meeting. You see I am still quite furious about our encounter earlier in the afternoon,but I would be willing to forgive you if you would be as so kind as to help me with a small problem I have,but please meet me at dueling field 1. PS,I must admit you do look rather dashing when your not wearing that hideous #20 thing".Elliot crumpled the parchment angrily muttering "I rock that Barry Sanders Jersey" to himself before slam dunking the wadded up piece of parchment in the nearest trashcan he stumbled on. Walking along a corridor that seemed familiar,murmuring to himself still about his favorite jersey,until he passed by the dueling fields.

Looking around for the blonde haired girl,looking rather ridiculous himself since a guitar was strapped to his backside swaying back and forth when he searched vigorously for Stormtreader. Finally giving up Elliot rolled his eyes before crossing his arms and said in his head "This is field 1,I swear if this bi-" his thought was interrupted when something strummed the stings on his guitar. Quickly turning around he saw Stormtreader standing behind him with her hands behind her back looking away from him trying to connive an innocent look with a sly grin on her face. After Elliot muted the strings on the guitar mid note by pressing his hand to the neck on the guitar stoping the strings from humming, Stormtreader finally looked at him,still having her hands behind her back and leaned in tilting her head to the side. "So this is what Stevenson was talking about" she said with a giggle,Letting out a breath through his nose much like a bull he replied "Yes,She was talking about my guitar". "Mhm,I see and this guitar,it's a muggle musical instrument correct?" She asked beginning to circle Elliot observing him from every possible angle.

Sighing,Elliot pivoted making sure to turn with Treader so he could face her "Yes,Why?" He said clearly annoyed with the question. Treader smiled before finally stoping and stood in one place,she looked him over before fixing her sight on his tie "Tsk,Tsk,Tsk I thought I had already straighten this out" before she could lay a hand on Elliot he quickly took a step backwards avoiding her touch. Straightening the tie himself he cleared his throat "No,I've got why did you want to see me?" He asked cutting to the chase making Stormtreader give off a warm,convincing laugh. Her big blue eyes stared directly into his "Well I would have taken you too be the more understanding type" she said with a smile,flipping her silver blonde hair. Elliot checked his watch,"Look,I'm was in the middle of taking the Hogwarts kids to play Quodpot,sooo if we could speed this up that'd be great" he said completely disregarding her last retort.

The girl's smile still plastered across her face she sighed before taking Elliot's hand, pulling him close to her she said "I have a wonderful idea you see? if it hadn't have been for little fiasco this afternoon I would have not have given you a second thought" looking into his dark grey eyes. "Oh really? I suppose I should feel grateful?" Elliot asked smugly,Maxine returned his retort by feeling his biceps "oh yes a little muscle here,a strong jaw line,I'm assuming you play Beater?".Catching Elliot off guard he felt more than a little flattered "yes,I play beater,I plan on making the All Ilvermorny team" he said proudly. Grinning she still fixated her eyes on his "oooh,that right? Than how about you at least hear my offer" she said,Elliot sighed running his hand through his thick brown hair.

Thinking it over in his head he groaned "fine Stor- I mean Maxine,what did you have in mind?" He asked making Stormtreader release his hand and she began clapping with joy. Giggling like a school girl she cleared her own throat "well as I'm sure you've heard from Caster,Cook and or Evans ha-ha not much goes on in Ilvermorny that I don't know about" she boasted ,flipping her hair again counting each name with 3 fingers "I've got Wampus and Thunderbird wrapped around my finger,Horned Serpent is coming along nicely….However, Pukwudgie hasn't been as _understanding_ with me as the other 3" she said giggling. Starting to understand her proposal Elliot laughed "What? you want me to be some kind of ambassador?" He chuckled,she placed her hands on her hips still smiling. "Oh no,of course not ha-ha my dear Pukwudgie Nooo. You're words don't carry enough weight to turn tides in my favor,buut however if we were too I dunno have a relationship" she said in a high voice locking arms with Elliot.

Caught off guard he tried to move away from her but she followed "what? Noooo nope,I don't even know you" he argued but Stormtreader rolled her eyes "Think about it! We date,making the Wampuses go easy on the Pukwudgies,you just might have a chance at the house cup,maybe even get a shot at 1 of the 2 beater spots in the All Ilvermorny team" she said making it sound extravagant. After considering it he asked "And you'd get what out of this little arrangement? Exactly" Maxine smiled before saying "Well I'd slowly be accepted into Pukwudgie social life" Maxine hugged Elliot's arm tighter,basically cuddling his arm "also,it won't be so bad having a piece of eye candy lying around either" with that Elliot's face went bright red. Sticking her tongue out Maxine asked "Well, ? What'll be?" She pulled away from Elliot and outstretched her hand.

Elliot powdered the idea in his mind,on one hand his mum would love the idea of bringing home a well mannered,beautiful girl. On the other he would have to be the play thing,better yet a puppet,for Stormtreader a person who for reasons unknown attacked the Blackledge siblings before the first day even came as a shock to no one when Elliot bluntly said "No. I have to much self respect to be your fake anything" the smile the girl was wearing slowly contracted until it was no more than a slight grin,her ice blue eyes still looking deeply into his. A best had past when she let out a small laugh "ha-ha,Alright that's all I wanted to say" Elliot was indeed rather confused,and it was reflected in his facial expression. Was this the same girl who threatened and tired to curse Amelia? The same girl everyone was afraid up? It didn't make sense to him,Elliot let out a fake cough "Alright,than I'll be taking my leave. I do hope you understand why I made the decision I did" he said trying to lighten the mood with formal talk.

"Oh no,please I understand completely" Maxine laughed reassuring him, however it did little on Elliot since the tone of her voice was the same as when she spoke to Harper about her hair. Clearing his throat,and giving an awkward smile Elliot began to walk away given the social cue,he didn't walk 10 steps when Maxine called out "I guess your gonna have to really try for that spot on the Ilvermorny team, I suppose you'll still be of use for me in a way!" Laughing probably wasn't the best response but it's what Elliot did before calling back "I think I'd sooner date Blackledge before I'd help you!" He called back making Stormtreader laugh as well. After getting away from the fields he broke out laughing "date Blacklegde?! HA I think MacAlister would come first" he said wheezing at the thought,after rounding the corner to get to what he thought would be the way to the Quod court,ended up being the entrance to the North-East Tower.

He quickly stopped laughing when a pair of green eyes filled with rage stared back into his,of all the places she could be,of all the times she could have chosen to she no doubt heard his last remark. "ohhh,Ello" Elliot said trying to break the tension since Amelia specialized in making the air around her feel ten times heaver than usual. "What are you doing here? Muggle-Lover?" She said adding a hint of passive aggressive anger,Rolling his eyes Elliot was about to reply when a girl's voice spoke first "Amelia!? Is that anyway of treating your savior?" Groaning Amelia stepped to the side reveling a short girl with dark curly brown hair and brown eyes. "Yeah,Amelia,I mean a savior may have been to much but I'll roll with it" Elliot said mockingly with a small smirk,the brown haired girl laughed before extending her hand "I'm Charlotte Galloway,aka Little miss sunshines over here's best mate" he said cheerfully.

"Wow,you're a lot different from what I thought Amelia's friends would be like, And the names Elliot Stoneguard" Elliot said shaking Charlottes hand who surprisingly from her small size,had a rather firm grip. Elliot's bashful remark made Charlotte laugh and Amelia cross her arms about to open her mouth,thankfully before any kind of retort left her lips Charlotte pounced on the girl quickly starting to tickle her stomach. Unsure of what to make of the sight Elliot laughed seeing the black haired girls eyes tear up as she tried to slap Charlottes hands away "No! No! Sto- Hahahaha" she kept saying as her pleas were met with more finger wiggling. "You gonna stop being so nasty? Huh? You gonna tone it down ya git?" Charlotte asked with a grin,with the laughing continuing the green eyed girl shook her head vigorously up and down until Charlotte retracted her weapons.

Catching her breath,Amelia tired to speak "y-y-you Pratt" she said finally composing herself,making Charlotte grin softly before saying "hehe You love me" to his utter surprise Blackledge acutely cracked a smile an actual natural smile, unlike what Elliot had seen from her previously this smile felt gueniune. With this discovery the tension in the air that was previously there was now lifted Elliot laughed,"So Stoneguard,what brings you over yonder" Charlotte said in a stereotypical southern accent clearly fake. Smiling Elliot said truthfully "actually I was on my way to the Quod court,buut I think I'm lost" he said with a laugh,Charlottes eyes grew wide as she gasped "Your gonna go play Quodpod!? Can we come?! I've heard so much about it,but I've never seen a game played before!" She said with so much enthusiasm it was a surprised she wasn't bouncing off the walls.

However the feeling was not mutual with her friend,Amelia rolled her eyes "You can go Charl,I however will not take part in this-this rubbish" she said cruelly,Elliot smiled before he responded "Well your brothers taking part in said rubbish" the face Amelia made when those words left his mouth was price-less. Mouth wide open Charlotte noticed as well,and began nudging her below into Amelia "oh come on,let's go cheer on John" she suggested making Amelia groan "fine! Lead the way you mugg-" she began to speak when Charlotte grinned and slowly raised her hands as if she were about to pounce,Amelia sighed before rephrasing herself "Lead the way…Elliot" she added through gritted teeth. Smugly smiling Elliot cleared his throat before turning around and walking away from the North East Tower,"Alright,so I have no clue how to get there,but I think I know now" he said laughing as he lead the two girls.

After what seemed ages walking around the school trying to find the court finally came to a halt when he heard a number of voices cheering and arguing,"I think we're here" Elliot said casually working when a running Charlotte bolted past him screaming "Quodpot!" Like a mad woman. Wondering if his summer work outs payed off he called out "oh you wanna race!?" All that could be heard was Charlottes laughter as she turned around and began jogging backwards "Ha! Wouldn't be much of a race,I'd mop the floor with ya" she stuck her tongue out. Smiling Elliot quickly took off his strapped guitar and handed it to Amelia who held it by the neck as if it were something infectious "What am I suppose to do with this thing you handed me?" She asked as if she was tasked with holding a muggle child.

Choosing to ignore her,he unbuttoned his vest and loosened his tie and bolted forward with speed that allowed him to quickly catch the backwards jogging Charlotte. Surprised at how fast Elliot caught up to her she turned and with all her might sprinted, as the voices grew louder the pair was neck and neck rapidly nearing the entrance to the quod court. Amelia's little pants and footsteps could be heard behind them as the open doors grew closer and bigger with every step they took. He could see Louis holding the Quod a bead of sweet running down his face knowing the timer was getting close to 0,he saw him chuck it as far as he could for the pot but it bounced off the rim and the ball glowed bright red witch indicated the round was over and he was out since he last touched it.

He had just only heard the Irish shites voice say "hold on Laddies, Imma get mi some water" before Rory walk out of the room right as he was running into it. CRASH the two boys collided knocking each other hit the ground hard, Rory landed right on his chest, the impact of being crushed as he it the ground popped all his ribs giving Elliot an amazed refreshed feeling. As Elliot let out a bliss full sigh Charlotte bolted over the two and cheerfully said "I win" as a out of breath Amelia slowly brought up the rear "Hahahaha-Hahahaha-hahhah" she laughed In-between breaths guitar still in and Louis lightly jogged towards the wreck,John showing more sympathy asked Lynn to go with him to fetch a nurse,while Louis more or less walked holding his stomach while laughing uncontrollably. "Oye,I'm glad our circumstance gives ye a kick ya twit" Rory groaned as Louis whipped the tear from his eye and helped Rory up,much to his surprise, Elliot was helped up by Carter who had ran up once he saw who had collided. "Oh haha Rory,it does haha it really does" Louis said trying not to laugh,doing a horrible job,Carter picked up Rory's hat and handed it to him "many thanks,Caster" Rory said tipping his hat.

"Now why the bloody hell were ya in such a dam hurry?!" Rory yelled into Elliot's ear holding him by the collar,Charlotte grinned before biting Rory's back he started to laugh "I was wondering when ya were gonna show your loony face, Galloway" he said laughing hugging the girl. She commandeered his hat putting it on her head backwards,she shrugged "Well I thought it would be better if I hung with Amelia a bit, I mean after Elliot's sorting there was _a lot_ of juicy gossip I wanted to hear" she said before noticing a swift Blackledge try to tackle her. "They don't need to know about our privet conversation!" Amelia said red faced trying to Rangel her more agile friend,it was rather amusing seeing Amelia try to run down Charlotte who had more fun teasing her with phrases like "what? They can't know the good bits?" Or "oh come on,their gonna find out eventually".

Laughing to himself,Rory put his elbow on his shoulder leaning on him "Sooo,you were hanging out with those two?" He said raising his eyebrows in a stupid way that accused him of doing something sinful,while Louis mirrored what Rory did but on his right "Also,how'd you're date go? You were gone for a while" Louis added with a stupid grin glued to his face. "I'd rather not talk about it, now can we just play Quodpot?" Elliot groaned shaking loose their elbows before completely unknotting his tie and untucking his shirt from his black dress pants. Louis laughed "we'd better wait for John,the lad loved playing the game, however the same can't be said for Rory though" Louis said while giving Rory a sly grin. Rory hissed "oh shut it ya git, the game makes as much sense as Galloway and Amelia being best mates" he said crossing his arms. The sounds of Blackledge trying to capture Charlotte soon came to a halt when Rory made his comment, she griped Elliot's guitar slightly the tension in the strings caused by this made them glow dimly. She turned it up-side-down and held it like a battle ax as she took a few steps towards Rory "Wooooah, now the guitar didn't do anything" Elliot said trying to calm Amelia by slowly reaching at it taking vary slow steps in a wide stance almost like the movement of a crab.

She winded up as if she were about to strike when Charlotte exclaimed "Oye! Is that what all the girls were going crazy for?!" She asked or rather screamed as she pointed at Elliot's guitar. Taking this opportunity Elliot slowly reached for the instrument and took it away from Amelia who looked at charlotte with a confused expression "yes, remember when I got up from our compartment? That's when I told this Pratt and MacAlister to keep it down." She said as Charlotte put her right palm to her face and groaned,Elliot confused slowly walked away letting the two girls sort it out themselves. Rejoining Rory and Louis he asked "so, how was the game?" Rory rolled his eyes "We played with teams of five,not every one participated." Louis said pointing to some new Pukwudgies more interested in a news paper that's front page said "Chuddly Cannons take down Landover in improbable come from behind victory".

Rory groaned "The whole game was terrible, not to mention the bloody bloke who checked me while I wasn't looking" he said narrowing his eyes at Louis who whistled looking away from the Irishmen. Laughing to himself Louis pointed at the pair of Horned Serpents walking towards them "I wanna hear a tone!" Charlotte screamed as Amelia slapped her hand to her forehead. Rory chuckled ,clapping his hands "Well go one Stoneguard,we got time till John returns with a nurse" he said talking a seat on the lowest row of the bleachers. Sighing,Elliot smiled "Okay,alright I brought the thing to play In-between matches anyhow" he said taking a seat next to Rory resting the instrument on his thigh. Charlotte clapped her hands sitting next to Elliot, it still came as a surprise to him as to how on earth someone like Charlotte could be this close to Amelia. Choosing to save his questions for another time Elliot cleared his throat, strumming a cheerful chord combination by hand rather than with a pick.

"Wake up Maggie! I think I got somethin to say to you! It's late September and I really should be back at school, I know I keep you amused…But I feel I'm being MAGGIE I couldn't try any mooore" Elliot sang tapping his foot to a beat while Rory began tapping and hitting the wood on the bench adding to the rhythm. Louis started a clap to the rhythm and quickly got Charlotte and a few other Pukwudgie to join along as Elliot continued with his ballad "you leave me away from home, just to save you from being alone. You stole my heart and that's what really hurts.". The song went on with everyone having fun singing,surprisingly Amelia as well, though it took some persuading from a malevolent Charlotte. Once Rod Stewart's ballad was over Elliot let off one more strum letting the final note fade out before being confronted by a polite applause from the gang.

Charlotte clapped the loudest whistling "Now why did you want him to stop? He's amazing!" Charlotte asked or rather yelled at Amelia who groaned "Oh shut up you were getting annoyed too!" He yelled back.


End file.
